Pantoum

So I've played around with structure more, and this time I bring you a pantoum, a poem similar to a villanelle in that it has lines repeating. I'm too lazy to explain the structure, but you'll see the effect it makes. Anyways, this poem is about the day that I got a blade in my leg that almost cost me my career at the ripe old age of 9 -1 day. I have taken a lot out of the experience, but I decided to focus on the theme of lack of control of outside circumstances, which I definitely learned the hard way. Fun fact: the first line I wrote was "And the slice." Not that you really care...


The ice all in red dresses,
I cannot forget the sun rising.
The day I learned too much
Does not remember easy.

I cannot forget the sun rising.
The way the ice teaches
Does not remember easy,
But what is real pain?

The way the ice teaches?
Not really by choice,
But what is real pain:
“We fear what our habits can’t control.”

Not really by choice,
I’m not so fond of jumping, but I figure
We fear what our habits can’t control.
Mine, I suppose, is that I fall.

I’m not so fond of jumping, but I figure
We all have regrets.
Mine, I suppose, is that I fall.
The ice becomes accustomed to our picks.

We all have regrets,
How blades travel where they aren’t supposed to.
The ice becomes accustomed to our picks
And the slice.

How blades travel where they aren’t supposed to.
A glance I never wanted to make.
And the slice.
I will never forget the floating as I fell.

A glance I never wanted to make,
The ice all in red dresses.
I will never forget the floating as I fell,
The day I learned too much.

Unpublished Material, ©2011 by Cali Digre